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NewsHow the Irish housing crisis is affecting you
How the Irish housing crisis is affecting you

How the Irish housing crisis is affecting you

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Last updated by Oliver Tattan on

At OneBigSwitch we work hard to get better prices on household bills for homeowners and householders. We, like many other businesses in Ireland, depend on the next generation of citizens being able to buy or rent a home. Therefore, we get worried when we see our housing crisis getting worse.

Housing crises are not unique to Ireland, many countries have them. The causes are complex and varied, but here are some facts about the situation in Ireland:

 

  • The number of homes in Strategic Housing Developments that have been stalled or blocked by judicial reviews last year jumped more than tenfold. In Dublin, the number of potential homes stalled by judicial review jumped from 508 in 2019 to 5,802 in 2020.
  • Home ownership rates amongst 25-39 year olds in Ireland has almost halved from 22% to 12% over the last decade.
  • The Government’s “Rebuilding Ireland” plan from 2016-2021 was to deliver 150,000 new homes. Only about 84,000 homes have in fact been built. The pandemic hasn’t helped the builders, but we still have more and more young people who need homes.
  • Many local authorities in Ireland have “locals only” rules. This makes it very difficult to build a home in certain counties if you are not local. We are free to live wherever we want within the EU but still face restrictions inside our own country.

 

At first glance building fewer houses might make sense, fewer houses means the value of existing houses will go up in the shortage. Simple supply and demand, and great for existing homeowners. But we need to be careful, the implications of not being able to provide homes for the next generation could be serious and destructive to our society. If it is easier to find a home in Germany, Canada or Portugal we may once again lose much of our educated youth to emigration. 

How are the next generation in your family coping with the housing shortage? Have your adult kids moved back home with you or just left the country? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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How the Irish housing crisis is affecting you

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Someone
Someone from LM commented:

My daughter moved from UK to great job in Dublin She is paying €1000 a month as is her flat mate for a 2 bed apartment in Phibsborough. During the pandemic she returned to UK for 8 months in total losing €8000 on rent for flat she wasn’t even in! Now back she is still saving for a deposit to buy which is proving impossible 

Margaret
Margaret from D commented:

The unfettered bulk buying tactics of vulture & other funds , effects all Irish citizens in both new & second hand property sales & has been since banks sold off their family homes portfolios as a result of their bankruptcy fiasco . All citizens & family types are impacted from retirees who want to downsize , expanding families who need to upsize , single parents, couples, divorcees , first time buyers , single people, job transferrees the list goes on - these funds and groups of international investor landlords are prevented from impacting the private citizens capacity to purchase/lease a home in other European countries . They must comply with state’s CPO’s on development land & capped low low rents in line with local council social housing rents. The funds are here because we don’t have legislation to protect the rights of the citizen/ families so we have a stand-off Citizen v foreign investor purchasing activity. They must not be treated as equals with our citizens, because they are not . Our citizens property rights, home ownership & family rights are enshrined in our constitution. The intention stemming from a fear of a repeat of a 900 year history of our people being dispossessed & disenfranchised of our rightful ownership of land & other fundamental rights by outside opportunists / invaders. The relevant articles declaring the states garuntees to fundamental & inalienable rights are enshrined in our constitution Art40.1 & 2 art 41 family & art 43 citizens property rights. All 3 individually & together give a clear picture of what the state protects as best it may using words “home” ,“citizens” “family” & “citizens property rights . We must legislate immediately to protect & elevate further our citizens / families rights above all others, to own/ lease from the state our own homes - our history dictates it ! Margaret 👍 

patricia
patricia from D commented:

A separated mother of 3 adult offspring - all of whom are renting, I am horrified - not only for them, but, like my 3 brilliant and generous socially conscious offspring, for everybody of their age, especially in the low-paid and insecure blue collar jobs which have kept the social fabric from TOTALLY fraying during Covid - at the ongoing failure of our (mostly comfortable, ruling class) elected representatives to ringfence housing as a NOT FOR PROFIT sector. Working in the Disability Support sector - like many colleagues - I crave some moral leadership, some way of doing MORE than well intentioned individual actions & donations. I KNOW that, as with the water charges, collective action CAN change the direction of our PROFIT-DRIVEN society toward something embodying SOLIDARITY & RESPECT for the human beings who we are. Help? 

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